Alcohol changes Oak Park recipe for success

A number of Oak Park restaurant owners see a spirited future now that the city has legalized beer and wine sales by the glass.

Zeana Attisha of the Sahara Restaurant on Coolidge expects to be among the first to apply for one of Oak Park’s new tavern licenses.

“We have been waiting for this,” said Attisha, who co-owns the Mediterranean restaurant with her husband. “I think beer and wine can increase our business up to 20 percent.”

Oak Park was the largest dry city in Michigan until Monday when City Council members voted to allow by-the-glass beer and wine sales at restaurants with some restrictions.

Attisha will have to install new coolers for beer and shelves for wine at her 200-seat eatery. She hopes to expand her menu as well.

“It won’t be like a bar,” she said. “But beer and wine can change the atmosphere so that people might stop by for a beer during a football game and we could add things like hamburgers and chicken wings to the menu.”

At the Coolidge Café on West Nine Mile Road, owner Tom Zawaideh said he is ready to apply for a beer and wine license.

The large diner restaurant has always done a good business, staying open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., he said.

However, offering alcohol may allow Zawaideh to change his recipe for success and expand his hours of operation.

“If we get the (tavern) license we would stay open later,” he said. “It would increase our revenue. It would make a difference, but I’m not sure yet what the difference will be.”

Attisha has been at the forefront of the effort to allow by-the-glass alcohol sales in Oak Park for the first time since the city was incorporated in 1945. City officials over several months discussed the issue with residents in town hall and other meetings before changing the longtime ban on by-the-glass alcohol sales.

Attisha is conducting a petition drive to allow restaurants to apply for Class C liquor licenses and serve liquor by the glass at their businesses. The issue is expected to go before city voters in the November election, though Oak Park voters rejected similar proposals three times over the past 50 years.

Restaurant and other Oak Park business owners had been reluctant to publicly support the effort to allow beer and wine sales because of the city’s historical opposition.

That reluctance, however, is beginning to dissipate since the new law was passed Monday, Attisha said.

“Ever since the tavern license passed on Monday people are coming out of the woodwork,” she said. “I’ve got people calling saying they want to get a license. I’m hearing through the grapevine other restaurants are interested, too.”

Oak Park is limited by state law to one tavern license for every 1,500 residents, which means about 20 licenses could be issued in the city. But only 10 restaurants in the city currently are in a position to meet the zoning and other requirements the city has set for tavern licenses.

“The goal is to drive business development in the city,” said Oak Park Mayor Marian McClellan. “When I became mayor I went to business owners and asked them what they would like to see in Oak Park. They said they wanted to see thriving restaurants and more foot traffic. That’s where the (tavern license) issue started.”

No tavern license applications were submitted to the city as of Friday, but Oak Park officials expect to see some requests soon, said City Manager Erik Tungate.

The licenses are part of a city strategy to boost economic development in Oak Park and attract more patrons and businesses to the commercial district. The city also is working on strategies to recruit retail and industrial business to the city, Tungate said.

“The vision is to have a pedestrian-oriented commercial district that is a vibrant place in Oak Park,” he said.